This data collection is comprised of responses from two sets of survey questionnaires, the basic Current Population Survey (CPS) and a biennial survey on the topic of veterans in the United States, which was administered as a supplement to the August 2001 CPS questionnaire. The sponsors of the Veterans Supplement were the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), formerly the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Labor.

The CPS, administered monthly, is a labor force survey providing current estimates of the economic status and activities of the population of the United States. Specifically, the CPS provides estimates of total employment (both farm and nonfarm), nonfarm
self-employed persons, domestics, and unpaid helpers in nonfarm family enterprises, wage and salaried employees, and estimates of total unemployment. Data from the CPS are provided for the week prior to the survey.

All veterans aged 18 or older received questions from the Veterans Supplement, which provides estimates on the demographic and labor force characteristics of veterans who have a service-connected disability in comparison to all other veterans. The data also made distinctions between Gulf War era veterans and Vietnam theater veterans; the latter being veterans who served in Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia. Estimates were also provided on the number of veterans with or without a service-connected disability and their labor force participation rate, occupational distributions, unemployment rates, periods of military service, and use of certain educational and job training programs. The Veterans Supplement portion of the study was designed to be a self-response survey and general interviewers were instructed to make up to two personal or telephone callbacks before accepting a proxy interview.